Single-use container consumption is increasing at a fast pace. Despite efforts to encourage consumer recycling, a significant percentage of product packaging (including plastic products) are not recycled and reach landfills. While recycling containers is better for the environment than placing them in landfill, re-using containers has the additional advantage of reducing the use of resources (for making and shipping the containers), making re-using containers a better alternative both for environmental and cost rationales.
One known method of reducing packaging is the selling of products in bulk. However the typical bulk food store utilizes bins of bulk product which are manually placed in disposable plastic bags by end users or customers using scoops. Such a store is unappealing to at least a segment of the population due to the unsanitary nature of having consumers handle scoops which are put into accessible food bins. While some stores provide plastic gloves for users, not all users use the gloves, and this increases the use of disposable plastic. The current concepts also require the store employee to recognize the products within the bags, which could lead to confusion and affect the store inventory.
Beverage dispensers for dispensing soda into cups have been used by restaurants for years. This allows the restaurant to buy soda in bulk (typically involving buying syrup in bulk and mixing the syrup with soda water). However such a system dispenses soda beverages for immediate consumption within the restaurant or in disposable cups.
There have been some advances in the art of dispensing soda beverages into re-usable cups. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,617,850, entitled “Beverage Dispensing System” discloses a beverage dispensing system that allows for re-using RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) tagged cups. The system can also be used for inventory management and billing users who have (re-)filled their cups. The system has the advantage of reducing beverage theft by not dispensing the beverage for containers which have not been authorized.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 8,565,916 entitled “Method or Printing Indicia on Vessels to Control a Beverage Dispenser”, teaches a system for stopping beverage theft from beverage dispensers in locations with uncontrolled access. It teaches tagging containers to ensure the container is authorized to use the dispenser.
While such systems are useful for reducing wasteful packaging by allowing the refilling of cups, both patents only describe beverage dispensing systems. They do not teach or suggest a system that can be used to allow for the dispensing of a variety of bulk products into a plurality of container types. Accordingly, there is no teaching or suggestion of a compatibility check for valid container type for the product requested, or for user preferences/allergies, or for previous fill history of the container. It only checks whether authorized, and where purchased for billing purposes. It does not provide for a compatibility check to ensure the selected product is compatible with the container itself (including previous contents of the container, or with user defined preferences associated with the container). The present disclosure teaches an improved system with several advantages over such a system. For example, the present disclosure allows for containers to be used for a variety of products, including both dry goods and liquids, and provides mechanisms to avoid the contamination of food items with non-food items, toxins, and/or allergens.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,617,132, entitled “RFID System and Method for Ensuring Food Safety” discloses an RFID system used to provide consumers with food product information. The food products are provided with smart tags. A smart tag scanner is used to retrieve the food product information from the smart tags. The consumers scan a potential food product with the scanner and, based on the retrieved food product information, make an informed decision as to whether to purchase or consume the food product. However, such a system does not disclose, teach or suggest a system to prevent bulk containers to be refilled with potential allergens or incompatible products.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,624,922 titled “Method and Apparatus for Vending a Containerized Liquid Product Utilizing an Automatic Self-Service Refill System”, discloses a system for dispensing liquid products into reusable containers. The system usefully allows for the mixing of ingredients to provide a custom mixture, and even confirms the mixing of a user selected optional ingredient is compatible with a base mixture. The system then automatically dispenses the same product for subsequent refills. The system prints coupons for subsequent refills. Such a system is useful for reducing wasteful packaging, and does establish brand loyalty (by encouraging with coupons and enforced by only refilling same product). However, it has the disadvantage of not allowing for refilling of different products on subsequent refills. Accordingly, such a system fails to provide a mechanism for allowing users to re-use containers for different products. While this is useful for a dispensing station located in a traditional grocery establishment, and dedicated to a single brand, it is not as useful for a grocery store providing a variety of bulk products. Accordingly, it does not provide for a compatibility check to ensure the selected product is compatible with the container itself (including previous contents of the container), or with user defined preferences. The present disclosure teaches an improved system with several advantages over such a system. For example, the present disclosure allows for a retail establishment to dispense and sell a variety of bulk products, including both dry goods and liquids, and provides mechanisms to avoid the contamination of food items with non-food items, toxins, and/or allergens.
Thus, there is a need for systems and methods for dispensing bulk products into re-usable containers, which provide improved flexibility and lowers costs (to retailers, their suppliers, customers, and to the environment).